>'Physical' and 'material' are not opposites of 'magical' in this context. I
>would change the emphasis of Uz experience to the phenomenal world -if they
>can see it, smell it, hear it, eat it then it matters - if not then it
>doesn't. In this sense they are not mystics (who think that stuff you can
>see, hear, smell, feel, eat, doesn't matter).
You can't see, smell, hear or eat most sorts of spirits, yet Trolls are adept at dealing with them. Their shamans are experts at navigating and utilising forces from the otherworld. In the animist world view, every phenomenon has a spiritual as well as material component and Trolls are animists, not materialists. To trolls Fear, Hunger, Love and Pleasure are very real personalised forces, but they are certainly not material in a physical sense. A troll that starves to death didn't merely die, it was _killed_ by hunger, which is an enemy to be fought and defeated.
They are certainly not materialists in the sense that sorcerers are materialists, which seems to be what you mean.
bjm10 :
>You humans are stupid! You say we are not mystical because we are so
>physical. Only humans would be so stupid to think that there is a
>difference! You are stupid and you don't even taste very good!
Classic!
Simon Hibbs
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